


Flowers in the Garden

by Adi_Beau



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: sad times after aerith's death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 13:02:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21320608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adi_Beau/pseuds/Adi_Beau
Summary: Cloud has a lot of things on his plate right now, but he needs to go back to Midgar first. He has to.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife, sorta
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Flowers in the Garden

I went back to Midgar.

We were aboard the Highwind and I asked Cid if we could go there. We were in the middle of looking for the Huge Materia so he wasn’t exactly excited to go when we had things to do.

“Why go back now?” He asked, scratching the back of his head. “We’re kinda in the middle of somethin’ important, kid. We still have to go to Junon.”

“I know…” I said. “But I… I need to go.”

“But why?”

“There’s something I need to see before we keep going.”

“But Cloud…”

“Let him,” Barret chimed in, looking over at us from where he was sitting.

“Not you too,” Cid sighed. “Look, I’m sure whatever it is is important and all… But we have more pressin’ matters to take care of.”

“I know. But the moment we find that last piece of Huge Materia, we’re probably gonna be goin’ all over the place trying to fight against Shinra and Meteor. Who knows when we’ll have another chance to go? Hell, I wanna get this done as badly as you do. But Cloud’s got his mind set on this visit.”

“... Fine.” Cid shook his head. “We’ll go.”

After a bit of exploring and looking around for a lost key, I made my way into Midgar with Tifa and Barret. We made it all the way to the slums when I stopped to look back at them. “... Can you two wait here?”

“Cloud…” Tifa frowned, eyebrows arched. “Are you sure you wanna do this…?” She knew where I was headed just as much as Barret did.

“Yes…” I nodded. “I’ll be right back. Promise.”

“Okay…”

I left them behind and made my way out of the slums into an area I hadn’t seen in a long time. Or at least, that’s what it felt like. It’s hard to keep track of time these days.

I walked past an all too familiar house, not ready to go in there just yet. I’d planned on going in there first, but… I couldn’t. Instead, I went around and up some wooden steps into a garden filled with yellow flowers. I could hear a waterfall rushing behind me as I went, birds chirping, wind gently blowing as the flowers swayed with it. I knelt down next to one of them, picking one out of the ground and bringing it up to my face to smell it.

“... you always did smell like flowers…”

I stood up, standing there for a little while longer. When I was finally ready, I went back to the house.

I found myself holding my breath. I stared at the door to it for a few minutes, my shoes glued to the ground. Letting out a heavy sigh, I reached over to open the door to the house.

It was empty, of course. No one inside. And yet… I felt almost disappointed to see that. As if I was… Waiting. As if I wanted someone to be there… Waiting. I stepped inside, a small chill running down my back as more familiar scents hit me. I saw her for a moment, standing by the table, watering a potted flower. She turned to me and smiled.

I shook my head, rubbed my eyes. When I opened them again, she was gone. “...” I made my way upstairs and up to her room. Her bed was the same. Her belongings were exactly where she’d left them, collecting dust as some sunlight peeked through a window.

I found myself going to sit on the bed, looking down at my feet as I tried to clear my head. Why did I come here exactly? I wasn’t really sure myself. I just felt like I had to. I fell back for a moment, allowing myself to relax as my back hit the soft cushioning of the blankets, eyes closing. I let out a breath.

“Do you wish you stayed here…?” I whispered. “Do you wish you could go back to those kids in the church? To your mom? Do you miss the smell of the flowers? Do you miss Midgar? Do you miss Tifa or Barret or even Cid or Vincent or Red, or…” My voice trailed off for a moment. “... me?”

I could practically see her, standing in the middle of chaos, trying to sell me flowers. Giving me that gentle smile that she always wore.

“Are you with your actual mother out there…?” I continued. “Are you… Happy out there? Wherever you are?” I slowly opened my eyes again, staring at a blank ceiling. “... I hope you are.” I slowly moved to stand up, turning to face the bed before placing the flower from the garden on top of her pillow.

“... I’m sorry.” My voice cracked. “I… I’m sorry I couldn’t do more. I’m sorry I dragged you into all of this.” A single tear rolled down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away. “And just look at me… Moping around and wallowing in my own emotions and regrets… This isn’t who I am.” I shook my head.

“I promise… I’ll avenge you. I’ll save the planet and… And I’ll defeat Sephiroth. I’ll take down Shinra and Hojo and Meteor, and… I’ll make sure your sacrifice wasn’t in vain. I’ll do it for you… Aerith.”

Soon after that, I left and made my way back onto the Highwind. I had a lot of work to do.

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been playing Final Fantasy 7 recently and I have to say, I'm loving it so far. Even knowing what would happen to Aerith before playing, her death still hit me pretty hard. I went back to see her house and... Hearing that music and seeing all those flowers in that garden and her empty room... It all made me kinda sad. I still have this area open on my TV as I'm writing all of this, actually. Been listening to the music on loop as I go.
> 
> It's a but angsty and Cloud is a bit more like his angsty counterpart in this fic, so I'm sorry about that. I just kinda feel like, if left alone and grieving a close friend's death, he's probably allowed to feel the big sads.
> 
> This has probably been done 100 times before but I just really wanted to write this anyways.


End file.
